I have held back far too often thinking “reason will take over.” Reason is not taking over. We’re off our rockers and white supremacy and racism are blatant. And it’s been going on. We just haven’t listened too well. I need to quote popular speaker Jonathan Martin on this one from his Facebook page:

The soft-core white supremacy that set up all of this disturbs me as much as the overt sort. Wink wink, nudge nudge-plausible deniability… A lot of us decided PG-13 racism is perfectly harmless, then act offended when it’s explicit & out in the open. We tolerate racism so long as it’s appropriately subtle, coded, discrete, implicit. We thought it could be contained/controlled-a small fire to keep us warm, not wildfire that will burn down the house. We act like any show of racism just shy of Nazis in the street is “open for interpretation.”

Here is what is worse: we, as whites, have not listened. As white Christians, we haven’t listened to our black brothers and sisters. Martin goes on:

EVERY black church leader I know well (rural & urban contexts) has spoken of the rise in white supremacist activity in their communities this year. If you’re a follower of Jesus-why does it have to be on the news before you’d believe the report of your brothers & sisters? Remember that in the gospels, demons manifested before Jesus just before their true names were revealed & then cast out. What spirits cannot be rightly named, cannot be cast out: “Jesus asked him: ‘What is your name?’ ‘My name is Legion, for we are many.'” We expose 400-year-old devils, in Jesus’ name.

We have to call this out, friends. We have to confront this demonic activity rather than hope it just goes away.